Torah

Approximately 100 congregants marched the streets by singing, dancing and celebrating Chabad of Pembroke Pines' first owned Torah. This procession in the streets of Pembroke Pines recently was an emotional celebration for the synagogue's founder, Rabbi Mordechai Andrusier, as the Torah was dedicated in the memory of his grandmother Chana and nephew Yonatan. "Some people relate death as final and as a separation of a loved one but here with this dedication we have loved ones being connected because there's something eternal with a Torah," Andrusier said while discussing the emotion of honoring his late family members.

By Randall P. Lieberman and South Florida Sun-Sentinel, September 29, 2014

As reported by Torah Academy of Boca Raton (TABR) eighth-grade student Shmuel Baumann - an aspiring journalist - students at the Boca Raton school recently turned "something bad into something good. " Baumann wrote: "On Sept. 11, middle-school students at Torah Academy of Boca Raton pledged kind deeds in a memorial to the 3,000 plus victims who died in the tragic terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C. Pledges of everything from 'helping my mother make dinner' to 'visiting my grandmother' resounded around the school the week of 9-11.

The rabbi, with a smile, finished the last letter of the Torah; a lamed. It was beautiful. Now he would take me to the synagogue. Of course, since it was a chilly day I was covered with a velvet Torah jacket before he put me beside him in the front seat of the cart. As we approached the shul I heard a dull roar. The main street of the shtetl was mobbed on both sides. They were cheering. Why? The rabbi explained. They were cheering for ME. The NEW TORAH! There was dancing in the street.

To attract more people to its Selichot (pre-High Holy Day) service on Saturday, Sept. 20, B'nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton hosted a free, community-wide musical service similar to its noted Musical Concert Series events. Senior Cantor Udi Spielman, who put together the event, was very pleased with how the evening went. Spielman said: "I think it was lovely. We usually have about 100 people for Selichot and tonight we had about 900. Next year, I hope that we'll need to build a new building for all the people who will want to come.

Since Shavuot is z'man matan Torateinu (the commemoration of the giving of the Torah to the Israelites on Mount Sinai), many dedicated religious Jews admirably stay up the entire first night of Shavuot to hear talks about and discuss Torah teachings. Among these Torah teachings are that Jews should preserve human health, treat animals with compassion, protect the environment, conserve natural resources, help hungry people, and pursue peace. By becoming vegetarians, and preferably vegans, Jews would be partaking in a diet that is most consistent with these basic teachings.

Everybody has an opinion on how the country's economy should improve, just ask Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg, whose committee is busy hearing testimonies and suggestions from the public and experts, as well as reading over a thousand written opinions. One such document received by his team recently represents not just the small group of experts who wrote it, but attempts to provide the economists — commissioned by the prime minister to find measures to make life in Israel easier — with the stance of Jewish law and thought to the recent social awakening here.

Is the Torah divine? Does G-d intervene in the history of his people? What good Jew would deny it? The Holocaust — granted, an incongruity, an anomaly — a puzzle that no one can solve. But will G-d — the jealous G-d of the Chumash — allow an Islamic branch of mankind to destroy HIS world? Only He has the power to destroy nations; Consider Sodom and Gomorrah, the flood. The planetary punisher is usually G-d, not man (not even the Assyrians, Babylonians, nor Nazis). Your G-d is a jealous G-d. Do we not believe this?

The words we recite when taking the Torah from the Ark are found in this week's portion. "And it came to pass, when the Ark set forward, that Moshe (Moses) said 'rise up O Lord and let Your enemies be scattered; and let them that hate You flee before You.'" (Numbers 10:35) This sentence is unique in its importance as it is inserted between two inverted letters nun that almost look like brackets. The Talmud claims that this sentence actually constitutes a book of its own. (Shabbat 116a)

Leading religious-Zionist Rabbi Dov Lior told yeshiva students on Sunday they should not take up positions in the army in which they would need to be in command of female soldiers. Lior was responding to a question from a student at the Nir hesder yeshiva in Kiryat Arba, who asked whether or not it was permissible according to Jewish law to command female soldiers. According to the website Kipa, Lior answered, "regarding the issue of modesty, it is for certain that commanding girls contravenes the Torah.

Inside a home west of Boca Raton on Sunday, Zoltan Gaspar put the finishing touches on the garments of a "groom." Then they walked side by side under a traditional hoopa -- a canopy, to a nearby schul -- a house of worship. Outside The Boca Raton Synagogue, Gaspar and the groom were met by more than 200 relatives and friends, as well as the "betrothed." It was not so much a wedding, however, as it was a siyum. A festival. And it represented not so much a spiritual union of husband and wife as the symbolic joining of an Orthodox Jewish congregation with a Torah -- a Hebrew Bible scroll.

Over and over our portion emphasizes the importance of inheriting the land of Israel. (Deuteronomy 8:1, 9:1) Why is Israel so crucial to our covenant with God? In the end, the goal of the Jewish people is to do our share to redeem the world. This is our mission as the chosen people and this can only be accomplished through committing ourselves to the chosen land, Israel. In fact, the first eleven chapters of the Torah are universal. God chose humankind over all species. He created.

On Thursday, Aug. 28, Yeshiva Tiferes Torah of Boca Raton (TTB) opened its doors to 25 Bais Medrash talmidim (post-high school students). They were joined by 13 ninth-graders on Tuesday, Sept. 2. Boca Raton has experienced widespread growth in recent years. To accommodate this growth, numerous shuls and schools have been established. This continued expansion of the Jewish community in Boca has created the need for a boys high school and Bais Medrash. The highly-experienced and dedicated Roshei Yeshiva (deans)

In this paper last month was a puff article on the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Local Chabad rabbis were quoted. Particularly annoying to me was a statement by Rabbi Yisroel Spalter of Chabad of Weston. After giving his opinion that mainstream synagogues are faltering, by which he meant Reform, Conservative and other liberal movements, he said, "If you teach a watered-down Judaism, that's what you get. At the end of the day, people want an authentic Judaism. " He then proclaimed Chabad-Lubavitch as the "authentic Judaism as it was observed thousands of years ago. " This is a ludicrous assertion since the modern Hasidic movement was founded in the early 18th century by the Baal Shem Tov (often referred to as the Besht (an acronym for Baal SHem Tov)

"All is fair in love and war. " Not so in Judaism. In fact, the test of moral standards is not how one acts when things are peaceful, clear and smooth. Such instances do not by and large require moral strength. Rather the test of moral integrity truly presents itself when facing difficult situations. One example of such an instance is during war. It's precisely then when soldiers can take advantage of the weak and the captured using the excuse that "all is not fair. " It is precisely then that the Torah demands that we conduct ourselves with the greatest moral fortitude.

When the High Holidays begin in a few weeks, a Chabad Lubavitch rabbi will be on the bima at Young Israel of Pembroke Pines, which will be known as Young Israel/Chabad of Pembroke Pines. The Orthodox synagogue at Century Village introduced Rabbi Shimon Andrusier, 38, and Rebbetzin Liba Andrusier, 35, to the congregation at an Aug. 24 open house. "We're all together. We're trying to be as much as possible a community here to help each other," Shimon Andrusier told an audience of about 70 people.

Stories come from the most unlikely places. This summer, I did an artist's residency at a remote retreat center in North Carolina. During the second week of my stay, the center welcomed a rabbinical organization for its annual meeting. Soon after the group's arrival, a participant placed a few books in the lobby with a sign inviting people to help themselves. Never one to ignore a free book, I took a peek. Published in 1999, the book was called "My Father's Century. " It contains anecdotes compiled by its author, Murray Stadtmauer, about his father Simchah Asher Stadtmauer, who lived from 1899 to 1997.

The final lecture in a six-week series will be presented at noon on Wednesday at the Broward CHAI Center, 1295 E. Hallandale Beach Blvd. The program is called "Resurrection: Is This a Jewish Concept or - Does Torah Do Disney?" The series, held on consecutive Wednesdays, has explored how the secrets of a happy life are found within the ancient texts of the torah. Lectures are given by Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus, dean of the Broward CHAI Center, a Jewish educational center. Cost is $7 for non-members, $5 for members.

Whether appointing a king is legally obligatory or not is a subject of great controversy. But whether it is or is not, the Torah recognizes that it is human nature that people will ask for leadership in the form of a king. (Deuteronomy 17:14) When they do, the Torah builds limitations into the kingship so that the king will never abuse his power. Of paramount importance is that both the king and his people realize that while he is the leader, he is still a subject of God. In the end it is the Lord who is the King of kings.

Instead of enjoying a last afternoon off before school starts, children of Temple Beth Tikvah gathered at the Greenacres synagogue on Sunday to polish the silver religious items to be used during the upcoming High Holidays. The upcoming Jewish Holiday of Rosh Hashana signals the coming of the New Year. It is a time when Jews around the world worship and pray for God to grant everyone another year of health, prosperity and peace. The Conservative congregation has been busy preparing for the High Holy Days, cleaning carpets, setting up chairs in the social hall, placing books at each seat, and steam cleaning the white Torah cover.